


Child of the Stars

by RebelWolf



Category: The Dresden Files - Jim Butcher
Genre: Gen, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:20:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27060346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RebelWolf/pseuds/RebelWolf
Summary: It takes being mortally wounded to find out about being Starborn.
Kudos: 5





	Child of the Stars

Harry was wounded and very close to dying as he dropped through the doorway of the emergency medic’s treatment tent. He had been blasted in the chest at close range by one of the Fomor weapon and it damaged the left top of his lung and his heart. Listens-to-the-Wind had used his healing magic and had repaired most of the damage to his lung and the chest muscle but he was not doing very well on repairing the heart, it was pretty torn up. Harry was completely out of it, babbling nonsense and rolling his head around with his eyes wide open some of the time but the next roll they would be closed.

After they had finished doing as much as they could do for him, they put him on a gurney and rolled him into the back of an old Army tent that they were using as a recovery room for the wounded and the dead. They had set up a large piece of canvas that hung off center on one end of the tent and they were putting the dead bodies behind it in order of keeping people for seeing all of the dead bodies.

Harry was placed there after he had been treated in the hopes that his wizard healing powers would be able to make some repairs to his heart but they were pretty sure that he was as healed as he was going to get and that would not be enough to keep him alive for very long. He lay there thinking of Murphy, how he loved her and missed seeing her face with her little button of a nose. He beautiful bright eyes and the way she looked at him as if she thought he could do anything. Truth was that when he was around her, he felt like he could do anything, like he was invincible. He missed her smile, how he wished that she was here with him now because he seriously doubted that he was going to ever get up off this cot.

Someone had stuck an IV in his arm and the morphine drip that they had started for the pain he was going to feel was starting to kick in. He was feeling a little light, like he was floating and was feeling a little sleepy and he figured that this was how it would all come to an end. He would just lay here, taking in the morphine and falling off to sleep. The pain was pretty much gone and he was floating up into the air. He was outside of the tent now but didn’t remember how he got outside but he figured it didn’t really matter now. As he floated, he could see the faces of the people in his life; Murphy, Maggie, Michael and Chasity and all their kids. He saw Thomas, and Lara, and Ebenezer along with the werewolves and Butters, there was Mab and then Molly. They all looked sad and he felt like crying but he was too sleepy and tired to do anything except float.

As he continued to float up and up, he saw an old man in a hooded robe holding onto a walking staff. He was just standing there along his path so he slowed down and then stood up right before the old man. He was shorter than Harry, as most people are and there is something familiar about this man but his face is mostly hidden within his hood. As Harry comes to a stop in front of the man, he said, “Hello, are you dead too?”

The old man replied, “Many times and more years ago than I care to count, but why do you think you are dead?”

Harry looks down at his chest and sees nothing wrong. He then said, “Well, in the real world where I am lying on a cot in back of a recovery tent with a gaping chest wound to the heart, I am pretty much dead. At least that is how I see it anyway.”

The old man asked, “Young people today seem to give up so easily. Let me ask you a question, do you want to be dead?”

Harry thought for a second and said, “It would make so many things easier for me and others but honestly, no I would rather be alive if I actually had a choice in the matter.”

The old man chuckled and said, “We always have a choice, some more choices than others but you do have a choice in this matter.”

Harry looks at the man and asked, “Who are you and how what do you mean that I have a choice in this matter?”

The old man chuckles again and pushes his hood back off his head and said, “I am one that has been around since almost before time. I am the first of us. I am Merlin and I have watched over you for many years, my son.” 

Harry looked at him in complete amazement and asked, “You are him; you are Merlin the magician of old, of the King Arthur tales, that Merlin?”

He smiled and did a little bow saying, “The one and only, at your service. Harry, is it ok if I call you Harry?”

Harry nodded his head and said, “Yeah, sure call me whatever you want.”

He smiled again and said, “Harry, it seems that this damage to your chest is pretty severe but do you remember being told that you were Starborn?”

Harry replied, “Yes, I have heard it mentioned several times but no one seems to be able or willing to tell me what that is. Do you know and will you tell me?”

Merlin smiled and said, “Yes, I know a great deal about it and yes I will tell you some of what I know. First, you are called Starborn or Child of the stars. Second, as you have been told or figured out for yourself, almost no one has any idea what that means, and those that do know something about it are able to feel or are able to detect it what you are but even less people know what all that means.”

He continued, “Very few are fully aware of the Starborn, they have no idea how powerful you truly can be. Being a Starborn makes it possible for you to access more power, completely unknown power sources and this will make you more powerful than anyone else.”

Harry stared at him and didn’t say anything at first, but then he asked, “What will I be able to access?”

Merlin smiled and said, “Well, first you will be granted access to the total power of a star. You will be able to draw on it’s mass and substance for increasing you magic. It will increase the effect of your power and overall amount of strength you will be able to wield. You will also be able to use Starfire, it is more powerful than any other fire you have ever seen.”

Harry replied “Wow, I mean that is unbelievable. Will I be able to, say, reach out and grab a satellite and pull it down out of space and drop it on an enemy?”

Merlin smiled and said, “You mean like your grandfather did? Yes, you will be able to do that and much more.”

Harry was excited and smiling when he stumbled and grabbed his chest. He looked at Merlin and said, “I think I would settle for a little healing ability, right about now.” He dropped to one knee and grabbed Merlin’s outstretched hand to keep from falling all the way to the ground.

Merlin raised his arms and lifted him off the ground. He turned and said, “I think we need to get you back in your body and get you fixed up a little.” With that said, Merlin suddenly appeared at Harry’s side as he lay on the gurney. Merlin held out his hands, palms down and run them all over Harry’s body without touching him.

After several waves head o toe and back to his head, he reached into his bag that hung from his shoulder and pulled out an odd looking blackish looking rock. He held it in both hands and raised it above Harry’s body and then slowly lowered it to Harry’s chest over his heart. As the rock got closer to Harry’s skin, it started to emit a blinding white light.

Merlin stopped just before touching the exposed damaged heart and started chanting magical verse which caused the light to grow in intensity before touching the rock to Harry’s heart. This caused Harry intense pain and he struggled to get away from the rock but was unable to move. As Merlin pushed down on the rock it spread Harry’s heart down and out as if it were going to smash it flat.

As the pressure of the rock increased, Harry’s heart seemed to open up and allow it to enter into the actual meat. Merlin pushed a little harder until the rock was completely engulfed within Harry’s heart and the as Merlin removed his hands, the neat of Harry’s heart closed in around the rock, leaving no sign of the rock. Harry lay there twisting and turning from the pain but soon lay still as the pain just faded away.

With the pain leaving his body, Harry slowly faded off to sleep without being besieged with dreams or nightmares, which was a first for him on a very long time. Merlin picked up a clean towel and wiped his hands clean, smiled at Harry as he lay there asleep and said, “Sweet dreams Child of the Stars, for life is going to get much more interesting. See you later, my son.”

Merlin turned to leave and just blinked out of sight just as Listens-to-the-Wind walked into the little area that Harry had been left in. he stopped, sniffed at the air, walked all around the room with his hands up in the air looking and feeling for something when Ebenezer McCoy walked in and asked, “What in the hell are you doing, casting out evil spirits?’

Before Listens-to-the-Wind could answer, McCoy felt it too and started searching the small area but like his friend, he was unable to find anything to explain the weird feeling that overcame both of them. After several minutes, they both ended up standing next to Harry and stared at his chest. It was badly bruised and had several cuts and scrapes but the hole in his chest was closed and looked to be healing quickly.

McCoy said, “Damn fine work, my friend. I would say that is probably the best job you have ever done. Thank you.”

Listens-to-the-Wind turned from staring at Harry’s chest and looked at McCoy and said, “Thank you for your kind words but it was not I that did this. I would very much like to take the credit but I can not.”

McCoy looked at Harry’s chest then at Listens-to-the-Wind and then back at Harry before saying, “Well, if you did not do this, who did?”

Listens-to-the-Wind looked around the room again then said, “As you also felt it, I think something of great and very ancient power was here and seems to have help our Harry here.”

McCoy also did a quick look around before saying, “I felt something that I vaguely remember but cannot place, but to say that it helped Harry is a little bit of a stretch, isn’t it?”

Listens-to-the-Wind shrugged his shoulders and said, “Well, it is either that or all of the magic that I was using on Harry just acted in some kind of delayed reaction and I actually healed him. Take your pick.”

With that said, he started waving his hands slowly up and down Harry’s body until he stopped over Harry’s heart and after a couple minutes stepping back to stand next to McCoy before saying, “Which ever of the two scenarios you choose, it worked great because Harry’s heart is whole and beating strongly in his chest. I checked his heart to make sure nothing evil or tainted was put in it and it is pure and fresh, almost like new.”

McCoy let out the breath that he had been holding and said, “Oh thank goodness. So, what do we do now?”

Listens-to-the-Wind said, “I would suggest that we let him sleep and check on him after he wakes. Come to think of it, I could use some sleep and you look like you could too.”

McCoy smiled and said, “Well, my friend, as my doctor I take you advice and will see you in a few hours.”

Both men chuckled a little and walked out leaving Harry to get some sleep and finish healing.

Harry slept for about 3 hours and wake to a few loud explosions close to the tent. He felt his chest and looked around at the rest of his body and found no new cuts or holes. He stood up feeling very powerful. He stepped out of the tent in time to see several Octokongs heading straight for him and he quickly raised his hands and them instantly disintegrated, leaving nothing of their being behind.

He looked at his hands and smiled and said out loud to no one, “Ok Titan, where are you?” he turned facing the quickly approaching army and started jogging toward them. He had a date with a Titan and he didn’t want to be late.


End file.
